Halloween-themed music mixed with the echoes of thunder fill outside as students created gingerbread houses and decorated cookies on campus Tuesday evening.
The Campus Events + Entertainment recreation committee hosted Nightmare on Treat Street for the first time this year, where they provided gingerbread house-making supplies for students, including graham crackers, colored icing and various candies.
The event was held in the William C. Powers, Jr. Student Activity Center Ballroom and also included a photo booth where students could take photos with their friends and receive a printed commemorative photo.
“In the past we’ve done Halloween-ish themed events in October, so we tried to think of something fun that we could do during October for the spooky season that just started, and Nightmare on Treat Street is what came out of that,” committee chair Celine Low said.
The event was free for UT students and had a turnout of approximately 100 students. Kathryn Rose, E+E member and marketing sophomore, said she loves that people plan fun events like this and enjoys supporting E+E.
Low said while many other committees of E+E have a theme, the recreation committee has greater freedom in the kind of events they can host.
“Recreation is lucky in that we can do anything that is creative or fun, whether that’s trivia night or events like this,” advertising sophomore Low said.
Vivian Pan, international relations and global studies freshman, said she came to the event as part of a family event for the Chinese Student Association.
“I like decorating cookies, and it’s something I can do to relax with my friends,” Pan said.
The two students who demonstrated the most creativity in constructing their Halloween gingerbread house received an Amazon Echo at the end of the event.
“We’re not expecting some kind of museum level haunted house, so anything that is fun, creative or stands out,” Low said.
After hearing about the Amazon Echo, Rose and her teammates said they were motivated to win.
“Y’all, we need to try hard,” Rose said to her teammates. “We’re making the best ones.”
Low said the recreation committee was trying something new with this event.
“We thought it would be fun to incorporate that contest aspect with the gingerbread house making,” Low said. “We’re always trying to think about different creative ways to put our own twist on classic activities.”
